An electrical socket may be provided with a safety device to ensure that an electrical connector plug cannot be inserted into the socket until a shutter member has been displaced to open apertures for receiving the conductor pins of the plug. This safety device is so constructed that the shutter member is moved only if two (or possibly more) of the conductor pins of the plug are inserted simultaneously. Such a safety device is provided in order to prevent possible injury to a person, caused by the improper insertion of a thin electrically conducting member such as a piece of metal wire, a nail, a screwdriver or the like, into one of the socket holes.
One form of such safety device comprises a shutter member which is made in a plurality of parts which are engaged together in the assembled condition within the socket. The shutter member is urged into a position in which it closes the holes for receiving the electrical plug conductor pins, by means of a plurality of springs. The device however is of a generally complex construction, due to the large number of components involved in particular in forming the shutter member, and this in turn results in a high manufacturing cost, not only due to the number of components involved but also because of the requirement for manual labor in assembling the components.